


The Cleaning Lady

by DarkAngelRed



Category: Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 16:04:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17247221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAngelRed/pseuds/DarkAngelRed
Summary: Charlotte Lee gets an offer for a job as a housekeeper at a somewhat known hotel which rests on the border between Nevada and California. Since she is currently between jobs and needs the money she accepts the job. This is what happened after she accepts the job.





	The Cleaning Lady

I cut off the gas of my car and sit in the car, all I have with me is a small suitcase and the will of a determined woman. Before I got here I was in between jobs, living in this car, eating what I could find and cleaning up in the public facilities. At least with this job I get a bed, a decent meal, a shower, and pay. The more I think about this the more I am questioning why I am second guessing this job. Maybe it's due to the fact that I have never had to work side by side with other people much and this job has me working closely with one person, due to the fact that it is going to be the off season of the hotel. 

I open up my suitcase and pull out some paperwork that my new employer told me to use to explain what is going on to the person who is currently working here. I then get out of the car and smooth out my dress, which is a bright green, contrasting with my red hair, which is also not in the best state. I take out my suitcase and papers and begin to walk to the lobby.

My inner child has me walk the red line between Nevada and California, walking along it like it is a tightrope. When I enter the hotel I am surprised by how empty it is, but it makes it easier to admire the hotel, with the room being gold and bright in California and the room being blue and darker in Nevada. I go over to the front desk in Nevada and ring the bell, setting down my suitcase. I walk over to the jukebox and play "He's Sure The Boy I Love". I then start to sway as I make my way back to the front desk. 

The door behind the desk swings open violently to reveal a disheveled young man around my age. He looks at me then sheepishly looks down as his buttons the rest of his uniform. I smile slightly at him. I think I can see why the owners brought me on. I look around at the less than clean lobby. I will have a lot of work to do, but once I clean it the lobby will be easy to maintain.

The man then steps out from behind the counter and joins me on the other side.

"The El Royale is a bi-state establishment. You have the option to stay in either the great state of California or the great state of Nevada. Warmth and sunshine to the west or hope and opportunity to the east. Which would you prefer?"

"They both sound wonderful, but I am afraid I am staying here for business." I then hand him my paperwork. 

"You're Charlie?"

"It's short for Charlotte, Charlotte Lee." I then hold out my hand for him to shake. "And you are?" At this he freezes slightly for a minute, but recovers.

"Miles Miller."

"So Miles, which great state will I be staying in during my stay?" I ask with a smile and a bit of excitement. He gulps visibly and shifts for a second.

"You will be staying near me in the great state of Nevada."

"Aw, and California was sounding so nice." I say, trying to calm down Miles, who is still stiff. He then goes over to the cabinet behind the counter and grabs a silver key as I pick up my suitcase to follow him. 

"This is a master key. It also will function as your room key, so make sure to keep an eye on it." He then hands it to me and we walk back from where he came from. He then quickly rushes ahead and shuts the first door. "This is my room, which you can come to anytime you need help or want to talk." He then goes over to the room next to his and opens it. "And this is your room Miss Lee." At that I flinch.

"Please call me Charlie, in fact I insist. Thank you Miles for showing me my room, but before you go can you show me the supply closet. If I can I would like to work ahead."

"Of course." He then goes to the room across from mine and opens it to reveal the supply closet. 

"Thank you." 

"It's not a problem. Now, if you need me I will be in my room."

I smile as I shut the door to my room and turn around to actually look at it. It is a filthy room with a mattress on the floor with sheets, a pillow, and a uniform. On the opposite end of the room is a box with a lamp on it and a small shelf on the wall. The concrete walls are covered in grim and so are the floors. It makes me gag internally, but it's a place to sleep that isn't the car and it comes with a steady income and a decent neighbor. 

I finally pick up the uniform to look at it and to be honest it looks more like a costume than a uniform. It is a dress with a black skirt and a white blouse. Also the uniform comes with a small jacket which looks like a feminine version of Miles's coat with it's own name tag which reads with the name Charlie on it. Also,it comes with white gloves which I can appreciate. I take the uniform and I use the master key to use one of the unoccupied rooms on the Nevada side to take a shower. When I am finally clean after months of filth I brush through my wavy hair and leave it to air dry as I put on my makeup, making my hazel eyes pop and my lips contrast with my peach skin. When that is I put my hair back into a bun and walk out of the room and head towards the supply closet to begin work.

For the first few weeks here I dive deep into my work, cleaning almost constantly, only stopping to when absolutely necessary. I eat the fresh sandwiches in the machine(which I use my wages to pay for) each meal we have and now since we have a kitchen in the back I plan on finally baking pies for the guests. The only thing stopping me is my cleaning duties, which by the end of the first month is done(all that I have to do now is the maintenance work for it). Also at the end of the first month I realized that I hadn't seen Miles since my first day on the job and I immediately get worried, so I do what any normal person would do and bake a bunch of pies and take one of them along with some water to his room. 

I place the glass of water on the floor and knock on his door. At first I think that he is sleeping and I almost leave, until I look on the floor and notice a white powder, which leads me to quickly take out my master key and unlock his door to reveal Miles. His coat is off and his left sleeve is rolled up with a syringe filled with drugs in it. His complexion is sickly and he is shivering with grim on him.

I slowly remove the syringe and get to work helping him to the best of my knowledge. I place the pie down next to his bed before I run over to the supply closet and find a clean washcloth which I dip in water and begin to wipe his face clean. He leans into the touch and mumbles something which I can't make sense of. I then move some pillows behind his head to support his head. I remove the belt and lay it across his lap. 

"Miles." I say softly as I hold the water in my hand. I then lightly shake him, to which he opens his eyes slightly.

"Charlie?" 

"Yes? That's me. Now drink." I then hold the water to his mouth. He then promptly down the glass and begins to weakly try and explain, but I place my finger over his mouth to quiet him. "I am not going to scold you. I am not your mother, but I will ask you to let me know when you plan on doing this so that if anything goes wrong I can help you. Ok?" He nods and I remove my finger. "Now, do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Why you are doing this? There clearly is a reason you are doing this. You don't seem like the type to do this for no reason." At this he looks down in guilt.

"I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you one thing and you have to swear that you won't tell anybody or leave." At this I pause for a second. Do I really want to know? What if I am sleeping next to a serial killer or worse? But then I think about it. What is the worst thing sweet Miles could do?

"Deal. Besides, I can't really leave even if I wanted to." He still looks scared as he leads me to the door at the end of our small hallway. When we get there he uses his key to open a door with a handle you would find on a desk drawer and the door looking like grey snake scales. He then pulls a flashlight out of his pants and clicks it on as we make our way down a set of stairs. Miles then leads me down a hallway filled with pipes and even includes a line dividing Nevada and California. We finally make it to a hallway with glass panes lining the one wall along with devices attached to them. I make my way to the first window and I realize what this is for.

"Why are these here?"

"Our employers sometimes ask for me to record certain people and their stay and send off the footage to a place in Pennsylvania." 

"No wonder you were doing drugs. I may have to drink after this, but I appreciate you telling me about this." I turn to look him in the low light and smile at him lightly. "Now if you don't mind I think the guest in this room is about to change and I would rather not see an old man naked." At this Miles turns around and leads us back to the door. "If you need to talk about anything else my door is always open. Now, if you will excuse me I am going over to California for a drink. You can join me if you would like as long as it is water for tonight."

A few minutes later I find my way behind the bar and grab myself two glass and a bottle of whiskey. I fill one glass with water and the other I leave empty as I make my way to the booth where Miles is sitting in front of the pie I made. I slide his glass over to him and open the bottle and pour myself a glass. 

"So since we are going to be working with each other for a bit we should probably get to know each other. Ask me any question you want, but you have to be able to tell me your answer as well. How does that sound?" I ask as I sip on my whiskey.

"Where did your grow up?" 

"Georgia, you?"

"Indiana." Most of the questions were harmless or trivial like age or childhood dreams, but they did not stay that way. "What did you do before this job?" At this I slowly place my drink down and look Miles directly in the eyes.

"Are you sure you want me to answer the question? I have a feeling that you don't want to answer that question soldier."

"How can you tell?"

"I'll answer this question with the last question. For a time I was an Army Nurse, but that didn't last and now I drift from job to job just looking for a place to stay. Heck, before this job I was living out of my car."

"What happened?"

"It wasn't my conduct if that's what you are implying. It was a medical discharge." At this I cut up the rest of the uneaten pie into portions and take the knife into my hand. "Can you guess what it was for?" At this Miles shakes his head and looks a little nervous. "I have CIP. Do you know what that is?" I then place the blade of the sharp knife in my left hand and hold onto it loosely. 

"I think you may have had a bit too much to drink." Miles then reaches for the knife and that triggers my next action.

I squeeze my left hand and let the red liquid flow from my hand. "It stands for congenital insensitivity to pain. I can feel all other sensations, except for pain." Miles takes the knife out of my hand, allowing the blood to flow freely. He then grabs a cloth and wraps it around my hand, turning the white cloth red. "Makes sense that they discharged me. Who wants a nurse who could bleed out without being aware of it?" I then feel tears reach my eyes. "Why did they have to discharge me Miles? I could have done so much more good, helped more people." At this I close the bottle and chug what is in my glass. 

"Why didn't you get a job at a hospital here?"

"I didn't want to be rejected again. Besides, the men over there who I worked under had class and I didn't want to risk my freedom for a little bit of extra cash." I then smile and use my right hand to reach out and place my hand over his hand which are resting on the table. "If I would have done that I would have never came here and met the wonderful bellboy." 

I retract my hand and stand up from the booth. "Now, as much as I loved this evening's event I need to get off to bed so I can get up early tomorrow to start the next round of cleaning." 

"Let me escort you back to your room at least." 

"I may have gotten a little emotional there, but I am not drunk, just mildly buzzed. If you feel that you must follow me back be my guest, just give me a second to clean this up." I then take the bottle and the glasses and put them in their proper places. While I wash the glasses I also clean the cut and grab a new cloth to wrap around it. I then finally go back out and walk with Miles back to my room. 

"Goodnight Miles, see you tomorrow." I then go to shut my door.

"Wait."

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if as long as neither of us are busy if you would like to make tonight an every night thing. Not the drugs and secrets part, but the sitting down and talking to each other part." I feel my heart speed up and I have to fight back against the blush which is trying to creep up my face. 

"That sounds wonderful Miles. I would love that." 

"Goodnight Charlie."

"Goodnight Miles." At this I close my door and lock it from the inside. I then begin to scold myself internally. I am an adult woman, not some school girl. I need to act my age and with class. I cannot drink in front of a man who I know little about. That is how bad things happen, especially when you are one of the few people nearby. As long as this is a one time thing I should be fine. I then change out of my uniform and go to bed.

Turns out that was not a one time thing. Everyday I would clean until my shift was over. Then at night I would met Miles over in California and we would talk well into the night. At first it stayed very much platonic, but over time there was a bit of flirting here, a brush of hands there. We toed that line between friends and something more, until one night as we said our goodbye in front of my door. Before I got into my room I was stopped by Miles who grabbed my hand and I spun around, just to be greeted by lips meeting my own. After that things were a bit tense until Miles had another close call with his heroin addiction. This gave us the time and ability to sit down and talk about the kiss, which led us to where we are today, happily running the hotel together while in a developing relationship. 

Everything was happy and peaceful for the two of us until one particular day in January of 1969. That was a very...interesting night.


End file.
